Altiplanicas

On Saturday (before any of the storms hit), we managed to sneak in a tour up to the high altitude lakes.  The area is one of seven sectors of the Los Flamencos National Reserve.  The lakes we visited are nestled among towering volcanoes and impressive volcanic rock formations.

Our first stop was in the small pueblo of Toconao.

The church behind the bell tower

The saguaro being put to various uses....

The door of the campanella

The stairwell to the balcony inside the church.  The ceiling of the chapel was also made of saguaro.

More around Toconao

Lots of dogs everywhere, which seems to be true everywhere in Chile (as well as Argentina)

J and I on the bus (the girls always disappeared to the back of any bus we were on)

Next we stopped at the salt flats, which are part of the Flamenco reserve.

The girls enjoyed making footprints in the salt

The birds feed on the brine shrimp, rarely lifting their heads from the salty water.

At first glance the backdrop is just clouds, but that big hump in the middle is a huge volcano!

We also found some other wildlife besides flamingos.....

Salt!!

The road up to the high lakes....

In this area we saw long abandoned terraces from the Incan period.  The girls spotted them right away, having been well educated in Peru about all things Inca.

A roadside shrine nestled into the volcanic rock

Road to the mountains

At Mescanti Lake (4120 m/13,517 ft) we got out and huffed and puffed along a little trail for awhile, watching the vicuña down by the water, and finding more lizards.

We sat by a little hut catching our breath while our fantastic guide Antonia told us about the area.

Despite moving slow as advised, the girls were having a hard time with the altitude.  

We glimpsed a few quick peeks at the massive volcano behind these clouds (which was across from the mountain that appears in the next picture)

On the way down we had lunch in Socaire and then explored the old village church.  

One woman on our tour was so horrified by the florescent lights hung in this church that she offered to fund proper lighting for the place.  I heard her discussing the details with the tour guide and it seemed like they had cooked up a whole plan.

The tiny chapel of this sanctuary also had a saguaro ceiling.

The church yard surrounded by corn fields

We thought this gnarled wooden bench looked eerily like a dog.

While in Socaire we got to see quinoa plants in a raised bed.  

In the fall the grains turn yellow and at the beginning of winter the plant is painstakingly harvested by hand.